At a press conference held before the final games at the U16 European Championship Men in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, FIBA Europe Secretary General Kamil Novak expressed his satisfaction with the tournament and the country's preparations ahead of EuroBasket 2015.

Also present at the press conference were Ukrainian Basketball Federation President Oleksandr Volkov and EuroBasket 2015 Tournament Director Markian Lubkivskyi.

Novak, who visited Kyiv for the final weekend of the competition, stressed the importance of the U16 European Championship in the build-up to EuroBasket 2015.

"I received a lot of positive feedback regarding the championship and it is a big step forward for FIBA Europe and European basketball.

"The level of organisation is very high and the bar for future organisers of U16 European Championships has been raised considerably.

"I would like to say thank you to the Ukrainian Basketball Federation and the Local Organising Committee, as well as (Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister) Mr. (Oleksandr) Vilkul and the Ukrainian Government for their big support."

Ukrainian Basketball Federation President Oleksandr Volkov explained the objectives of the event, underlining two key components.

"First, we wanted to test the organisational framework which has worked out very well.

"Secondly, there were some concerns that the interest in basketball in Ukraine is too low. With more than 23,000 spectators over the course of the U16 European Championship we have proven the opposite.

"I am also impressed by the level of the players in this championship, which makes me believe that the future of European basketball is bright."

EuroBasket 2015 Tournament Director Markian Lubkivskyi presented encouraging numbers, highlights by a 1.35% market share of the games shown on Ukrainian National Television and the 2,000-3,000 tickets sold per-day.

All games were streamed online with the two semi-finals, the bronze medal game and the final being shown on TV stations in a minimum of eight countries.

Lubkivskyi also expressed his satisfaction with the international media coverage and the good attendance of visitors from other countries who came to Kyiv to support their teams in the championship.

"We will have a good number of Spanish fans in the arena tonight (Sunday) for the final to cheer on their team.

"We also had a high interest from foreign embassies here in Kyiv. A lot of ambassadors followed our invitations to see their national teams play and even countries outside of Europe like Mexico and India showed interest.

"The experience gained at this event will be very useful in the build-up to EuroBasket 2015.

"For us, the next step will be the introduction of the logo for EuroBasket 2015 on the final day of EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia."